Friday, June 11, 2010

Take the one downstairs from our room. Like just about every other hotel fitness center I've seen, it's filled with treadmills and Stairclimbers and stationary bikes -- all with TV screens affixed to them. Pristine weight machines form a labyrinth in the room, but relatively few hotel guests use them. Mostly, people come in to tread hypnotically for 30 to 60 minutes at a time on a cardio machine while watching CNN. I used to be one of them, but not anymore.

My workout today consisted of a bunch of groove-greasing repetitions of dumbbell hang cleans, pistols, and tricep dips. Then, using my Blackberry, I pulled up the Workout of the Day -- the routine "prescribed" by CrossFit's central command and posted online each morning on crossfit.com -- and steeled myself for a good asskicking:

15 rounds of the following (for time):

5 pull-ups

10 push-ups

15 squats

It took me exactly 14 minutes to complete all 15 rounds, and I was seriously lagging towards the end. There's a CrossFit workout named "Cindy" that's similar, but instead of timing how long it takes you to crank out 15 rounds, it requires that you do as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. I don't think I could last 20 minutes without passing out (or at least taking a nap break).

Afterwards, I was spent. I wandered over to the pool to watch M and our 5-year-old play in the water. Our big boy's been taking swim lessons for months now, and he's fearless in the water (though, like me, he's not exactly earning style points in the pool). I can't wait until I get to the point when CrossFit WODs fail to strike terror into my heart.

But let's be honest: that's unlikely to ever happen.

Today's workout marked not only my very first attempt at an official CrossFit WOD, but also my last workout of Round 3. It's been a hell of a ride these last 105 days as I've continued to refine my approach to nutrition and fitness.

I'm working on a lengthy post summarizing my latest thoughts on eating and exercise, and I'll do my best to post it soon. [UPDATED: It's right over here.] But right now, I'm going to focus on vacationing with my family. I'm not going to post as regularly (and possibly not at all) over the next week due to travel and limited Internet access, but will be back to daily blogging no later than Monday, June 21st.

When I do, though, I won't be ticking off the days on a 90- (or 105-) day calendar anymore, so you won't be able to just click onto "Day 26" and check out what I'm doing. My plan's to make exercise a part of my everyday life from now until I keel over, so I no longer see the point in treating it like I'm in a jail cell, scratching little hash marks on the wall in a countdown to freedom. If you want to keep tabs on my workouts, just keep reading my daily posts, or check out the archives.

But until I get back from vacation, you can find me at a shitty fitness center, rolling my eyes and making a gagging sound while sticking a finger down my throat. And then working out like a crazy person.